in cairo by supporters of ousted president mohammed morsi. thankfully no repeat of yesterday's bloodbath. egyptian authorities now say more than 500 people were killed in yesterday's crackdown on morsi supporters and thousands more were injured. several hours ago president obama made his first public comments on that violence. >> the united states strongly condemns the steps that have been taken by egypt's interim government and security forces. we deplore violence against civilians. while we want to sustain relationships with egypt, our cooperation cannot be continued when violence continues. this morning we notified the egyptian government that we are canceling our biannual joint military exercise that was scheduled for next month. going forward, i've asked my national security team to assess

the implications of the actions that have been taken by the interim government and further steps that we might take as necessary with respect to the u.s./egyptian relationship. >> nbc's ayman mohyeldin joins us from cairo. how volatile is the current situation right now? >> reporter: well, for the second straight night the curfew has gone into effect and you can probably see the streets behind me, a lot quieter than they usually are on a thursday night. it is the beginning of the weekend, end of the work week here. these streets would be bustling. it gives you a sense of how tense the atmosphere is across the country. today a lot of the supporters of the ousted president who were mourning what happened yesterday, more than 500 people were killed, a lot of those people were given the chance today to recover the bodies of the victims. there are allegations being traded. they're not able to access their bodies because the government is prohibiting them. it's making it a more

complicated process. they're alleging that the government is trying to cover up the overall casual at this figures of what happened yesterday. supporters of the ousted president, mostly members of the muss lick brotherhood, participated in several marches across the country today. one of those took place here in cairo. turned very violent. at one point the supporters of the protesters attempted to storm a government municipality building. police responded with tear gas according to eye witnesses. the situation remains very tense. all eyes are on tomorrow. they're calling for nationwide protests following friday prayers. today the minister of interiors said that it had authorized its forces to use live ammunition to try to prevent the protesters from attacking government buildings and churches. in the past 24 hours alone we have seen a spike in attacks on churches and that has people very much concerned about what's going to happen in the coming days as these protests

intensify, not only in the capitol but in other major cities across the country. >> ayman, we played president obama's remarks where they announced that they were canceling next month's joint military exercises with egypt. we heard defense secretary chuck hagel tell us that he called his count counterpart. is there any reaction to that in egypt? >> reporter: no. the egyptian government right now has officially been very tight-lipped. we've tried to reach out to various branches including the president, the prime minister, the military. none have made any public comments on the u.s. statement. so you get a sense that perhaps it is causing a little bit of discussion within the egyptian government. the interesting point in the u.s. announcement was that it was a public rebuke of the egyptian military. there is a whole host of issues that the united states government could have taken against the interim government.

instead, they decided to cancel military training exercises with their egyptian counter parts. that will be a rebuke by the way the military is conducting itself. nonetheless, some are saying that is insignificant, that the united states simply canceling a military exercise is not enough to put the pressure on the egyptian military and the government to try to reverse course with some of the violent tactics that have unfolded over the last few days. nonetheless, the egyptian military has actually remained very defiant in the face of some of this international criticism saying they would not accept anymore interference or dictations from any government and the u.s. in how it will run its affairs domestically. >> ayman, thanks so much. for more on this crisis in egypt, let's bring in former state department spokesman p.j. crowley and michael crowley and washington post diplomatic correspondent ann biernan. thank you all for being here.

p.j., i want to start with you and this announcement by president obama that washington is canceling the joint military operations. how significant is that decision? does it carry any weight whatsoever? >> i'm sure it will be heard loud and clear by the egyptian military. how they respond to that, we'll have to see. i think the administration's challenge right now is not only what message it sends to the egyptian military, of course the president again decided not to tinker with the existing military assistance, but also what message do you send to the muslim brotherhood. do they have a mounting list of grievances. of course, the policy objective is to return to inclusive democracy. the real challenge over the next several weeks is how do you entice the muslim brotherhood that's been the victim of a coup and violence back into the political process. the end result is stronger than what was overthrown six months

ago. >> michael, they've refused to call the ouster of president morsi a coup. what is influencing them here in these decisions? what diplomatic calculations is the administration making right now? >> well, america's influence in egypt i think is actually fairly limited. when we talk about it here in washington, a lot of times people say what is president obama going to do, what is our policy? there's only so much we can do, but to the extent that we have leverage, it largely hinges on the fact that we send the country $1.5 billion a year in aid and 1.3 of that goes to the military and what that money buys us in large measure is contacts and relationships within the egyptian military who really are the power in the country right now. there is a personal pipeline. in fact, secretary of defense chuck hagel has been perhaps our lead point of contact in egypt because the pentagon has these military and military relationships. we can at least have open

communications. that doesn't necessarily mean that they listen to us or do what we say, but it's better than the alternative which is nothing and we become total bystanders. we want to keep that money going. the thinking is keep that money going and keep the relationships alive, we have a foot in the door. >> ann, the editorial board wrote about this. it says, quote, the obama administration is come police sit in the new and horrifyingly bloody crackdown launch wednesday. it continues, this refusal to take a firm stand against massive violations of human rights is as self-defeating for the united states as it is unconscionable. continued u.s. support is helping to push the country towards a new dictatorship rather than a restored democracy. why hasn't the white house been more strongly critical prior to the point where it got violent? >> well, because in large measure it's slim leverage is through the military. as both p.j. and michael alluded

to, the military has been the most important, most stable, most powerful institution in egypt going back 30 years or more and it's the ones that institutionally the united states has the closest ties with. there are basically two different arguments here. one is the united states ought to be on the right of democracy and peace in all things and in that case should side with the elected president who was ousted, mohammed morsi, even though the administration has serious policy differences with him. and the other is we don't want the collapse of egypt, we don't want a failed state. as senator lindsey graham said he fears is going to happen. the egyptian military is the only institution that has any hope of preventing that from happening. so far the outreach has been to the military and the only punishment, the withholding of

the military exercises and the postponement of other things have been directed at the military. >> i want to play another clip from the president on egypt. let's quickly listen to that and talk on the other side. >> america cannot determine the future of egypt. that's a task for the egyptian people. we don't take sides with any particular party or political figure. we want egypt to succeed. we want a peaceful democratic prosperous egypt. that's our interest. >> p.j., it sounds like all three of you have noted washington has limited interest. what tools do they have at their disposal either with the carrot or the stick? >> the earlier reporting hinted at it, as long as this crisis is ongoing, egypt's economy becomes that much more tenuous. one of the key areas the united

states and others was negotiating with the morsi government was economic reform that allowed a lot of aid to come in through the world bank and the imf. as long as they're dealing with just basic fundamental stability on main street, they can't get back to this critical aspect of economic reform and producing the kinds of jobs and opportunity that they need. >> michael, the white house has not made a statement about sending military aid to egypt. what are the strategic costs for doing that if they decide to look in that correction? >> i think it's unpredictable. to some degree it's a lose-lose situation here as the president alluded to. almost whatever we do, one side or another is going to feel like really to some degree both sides feel like we're against them. every move is interpreted in the worst possible light. that country, i wrote about this

recently, for "time" is awash with nutty conspiracies. they denied the rumor that ambassador ann patterson said that dna testing said that king tut was jewish and the israelis were going to take the pyramids back. there was another rumor that obama and morsi had a deal where we would give them mope and he would give the sinai away. we're dealing with the atmosphere of conspiracy theories and mistrust. if you cut off the military aid, you lose a line to people where you have relationships where we consider them relatively rational, reasonable, they kind of speak our language. that's what the president is trying to protect here. >> the white house has promised to hold egypt's interim government accountable for what we're seeing. how much control does the interim government have over the military? who is in fact in control? >> the military is in control. the interim government is a nice

way to dress up the fact that the military is in control. the interim government is interim because the military said that they would move towards civilian elected -- return to civilian rule which means elections and a new constitution. that hasn't happened and you heard -- every time a u.s. official speaks about this, they call on the interim government to move quickly to fulfill that process. it was interesting yesterday on martha's vineyard where the president is vacationing, the deputy secretary went farther than anyone had gone in saying that the events, the bloodshed which at that point was not even a guide, did call into question the interim government's intention to fulfill those promises. >> all right. we will continue, of course, and keep an eye on this developing story. p.j. crowelly, michael crowley and ann, thank you for your

time. >> thank you. now to breaking news out of beirut where some dramatic video is coming in. lebanon's news agency said a car bomb killed 14 people and injured over 200. that's a strong hold of the militant hezbollah group. dozens of people are trapped in cars and buildings. it's the second blast in over a month. still ahead, new information from alabama where a couple of hours ago investigators recovered that black box recorder from that plane crash. plus, more details emerging on the san diego murder and kidnapping case including what phone records show about the communication between 16-year-old hannah anderson and her abductor right before she was taken. join our conversation on twitter. you can find us @newsnation. (announcer) at scottrade, our clients trade and invest exactly how they want. with scottrade's online banking, i get one view of my bank and brokerage accounts with one login... to easily move my money when i need to.

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ntsb investigators have successfully recovered the black boxes from the ups cargo plane that crashed in birmingham, alabama, killing both crew members. we're getting in pictures of the boxes. they will now be sent to washington for analysis. in the meantime, people living near the air field say the plane's landing are often at tree top levels coming so close to their houses they can wave to the pilots as they pass by. nbc's tom costello has the very latest on the investigation. tom, as we reported, the black boxes have been recovered. what information are they expecting to get from that? >> reporter: let's recall the black boxes mean two boxes, the cockpit voice and the plane da tampt the cockpit voice recorder will have everything that was said and the flight data recorder will have all of the

instrumentati instrumentation. you'll see it's really charred. what happened is these black boxes are held in the rear of the plane, in the tale. that's where they had a very intensifier. you may recall yesterday the ntsb said they couldn't get to the boxes right away because the fire was so intense. i got off the phone from the ntsb a short while ago. they said they are still optimistic that they will be able to recover data despite the charred boxes. this is what they do better than anybody in the world. they have a very so phisticated lab in washington, d.c. they will listen to every millisecond and look at every piece of data that's recorded on the flight data recorder. that will give them a sense how fast was the plane going, what were the conditions of the flap, what was their line of attack, if you will, in other words, what was the at at this tut and the rate of descent. that will matter as they piece together what happened. there are many, many possibilities, mara.

it's way too early to come up with possibilities as to what brought down the plane. >> tom, quickly. are they built to withstand crash conditions, things like fire and high impact? >> yes, they are, and they're generally orange, not black, although in this condition you can see they generally are orange. they are generally able to withstand a crash and fire but the challenge is going to be how intense of a fire. the ntsb says so far they're optimistic but they don't have the boxes back in washington. >> nbc's tom costello. still ahead, what the demise of the defense of marriage act can mean to the states. they're closely watching a case from a new jersey judge. a mom speaking out about her dramatic delivery on the floor of a hospital lobby. >> that's why i don't ask for the wheelchair but i said at the same time, it's out.

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lawsuit over same-sex marriages that the state had to give the same-sex couples the legal benefits of marriage but it said it would leave it up to the legislature. the new jersey legislature said they will have civil unions in new jersey and they will provide all the benefits of marriage, it's just as good. the same-sex couples are saying they're not just as good for two reasons. first of all, there's still a different status that deprives them of the equal dignity of being married, but they say now that the u.s. supreme court has struck down the doma law, the defense of marriage act which now says that the federal government has to recognize same-sex marriages in the states where they're legal, civil unions in new jersey are very different. they don't provide all the benefits couples would argue because they don't get federal recognition. the state is saying, don't blame us. it's the federal government that decides whether to recognize civil unions the same way marriages are. that's one way in which this is

a very interesting follow-onto the supreme court's ruling. >> this would only affect new jersey directly but what would be the broader implications? >> two that i can think of. in other states with civil unions, that would apply. they can't say they're just as good if they can't get the full recognition of the federal government. secondly, you get to the core of the supreme court's ruling in the doma case where they said depriving same-sex couples with the recognition of marijuana deprives them of their dignity. anthony kennedy's dissension uses that. the court's logic could be used to attack laws in the state that talk about same-sex marriage. it's the first one out of the box on that. >> thanks so much, pete. >> you bet. i'm now joined by mark solomon, national campaign

director at freedom to marry. thank you for being here. >> thanks for having me. >> this is the latest polling out of new jersey where they found 67% of new jersey voters want same-sex ballots out there. do you think this is an issue that should be placed for the voters or up to the courts to decide? >> i think it absolutely should not be placed before the voters. it's never right for a minority group to have their fundamental rights decided through a popularity contest at the ballot. it's up to a court to see whether gay and lesbian couples should mary. >> why do you think these states are out of sync with their neighbors? >> in new jersey a super majority want the freedom to marry in the state. unfortunately a bill was passed, governor christie vetoed a

marriage equality bill so we think we have work to do. we'll win through the courts or we'll overright the veto. new jersey governor chris christie ty does not support same-sex marriage. he said it was not appropriate. how much do you think his possible aspirations for 2016 are playing into the campaign right now. >> it's hard to know. i think new jerseyians think it's wrong for them not to be able to get married. new jersey is the only state from maryland to maine where same sex couples dond marry. >> how is it different from those in new jersey and those who are married? >> they're hugely different. there are over 1100 benefits and protections that come along with marriage from being able to -- social security survivor benefits if your spouse passes away to being able to take care of a sick loved one if they get

sick to higher taxes. new jersey is a relatively higher tax state. not getting the benefits of marriage, you have to pay higher taxes. from across the board, in order to really take care of your families, marriage is essential. >> how do you think the ruling in this case will affect the fight for marriage equality countrywide. >> it's only going in one direction. 70% support, i think we're headed in the right way. the question is is it going to take two years, three years, five years. ultimately in order to deal with these situations we need full marriage equality, full freedom to marry nationwide across the country. marriage doesn't go in and out like cell phone service. >> all right. mark solomon, thanks so much for your perspective this afternoon. >> thanks for having me. we continue to follow developing news from egypt after the president scraps a joint military exercise with the

egyptian military, but is that enough in the wake of this latest bloody crackdown. >> plus, the geo policy decision continues. we'll get the first read. [ male announcer ] these heads belong to those who can't put life on hold

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is equipped to help your child excel. purchase excedrin for a chance to win one of 5 $10,000 donations to your child's school. go to excedrin's facebook page to enter. we call on the egyptian authorities to respect the universal rights of the people. we call on those who are protesting to do so peacefully and condemn the attacks that we've seen by protesters, including on churches. we believe that the state of emergency should be lifted by, that a process of national reconciliation should begin and that all people should have a voice in egypt's future. >> president obama speaking from martha's vineyard this morning condemning the violence in egypt. in the meantime egyptian authorities say at least 525 people were killed in a

crackdown in the support of president morsi. kristen welker is traveling with the president. she joins us live now from martha's vineyard. kristen, good afternoon. we heard a reporter ask the preds about the possibility of suspending military aid to egypt but he didn't answer the question. what has the administration said about that to date? >> well, mara, they say they continue to review the $1.3 billion in military aid that the united states gives to egypt every year, and that is really the critical question. will the administration decide to pull that aid back? as of right now the answer is no. they are still providing aid. that is their largest piece of leverage right now over the interim government in egypt. what the president did announce today, mara, they were canceling military exercises between the united states and egypt set to take place next month. this is a huge rebuke to the interim government, to the military in egypt, but the

question is is it enough to actually bring the violence to an end. some of the people are coming together saying it's not enough. it's merely a slap on the wrist. republican rand paul said, look, what happened in egypt is a coup. we know senator john mccain has been quite strong on this as well calling on president obama to pull back the aid. some democrats have also called on this administration to end the aid. you didn't hear the president weigh in on that critical issue, mara. that's because if it is determined or if the administration comes out and says, yes, there has been a coup. they would have to pull back the aid. the administration walking a fine line and leaving one piece of leverage to dangle out in front of the interim government. it underscores how complicated the situation is, both in egypt on the ground right now and diplomatically between the

united states. this is one of the u.s.'s key outlines in what is already a volatile region. the president coming out condemning the violence, calling on the interim government calling on them to start as quickly as possible. we know president obama continually gets updated by susan rice. he convened an entire meeting. the u.s. is continuing to monitor the situation but they still have not gone so far as to pull back aid, and as you point out, that is really the critical remaining issue. >> kristen welker live from martha's vineyard. thank you so much, kristen. president obama's announcement that they're canceling the training exercises with egypt, critics are saying it's not enough. as our first read team says,

quote, no one said that foreign policy was easy, especially in the middle east and arab world. joining me live now nbc news senior political leader mark murray. thanks so much for being here. >> reporter: thanks for having me. >> congressman ted deutsch was on this morning with chris jansing. i want to play that. >> the highest level of diplomacy is what we should do in the near term. if we have to be clear using all of the additional leverage but that's the next step. >> mark, are we likely to see more democrats become increasingly vocal about their desire to see the president do more or even start criticizing the white house's foreign policy? >> well, you're seeing a growing frustration from that congressman in "the new york times" editorial page today

called for the foreign aid to be eliminated. the reason why is people are very frustrated. they want the united states to play its ultimate card here. the question is even if the united states does withdraw that foreign aid, whether that really changes the egyptian military's behavior. if it doesn't, it shows that card isn't the strongest one to be able to play. that's why you saw the president take the limited step talking about canceling a military exercise versus denying that foreign aid. would he that change egypt's behavior and could they get it somewhere else. >> today is day two of a meeting in boston. who are they? >> this is the big push of the republican party and they've

said this is a 2012 autopsy. you have to do a better job of working out to minorities. there has been some mixed signals on the actions of some republican politicians have taken on that. the rnc has made it a big deal. when you look at the rank and file of some of the republican parties republican stars, tim scott from south carolina looking at ted cruise in texas, marco rubio in florida, they have a lot of minority lawmakers b but that's much more easier said than done. newt gingrich made a comment on it. he said they have zero ideas and they have to get beyond being aints obama. does he have a legitimate

discussion here. >> he is never at a loss for being able to make news. he has a point. it is one where the republicans have been forced to repeal obama care and delay it. while republicans say they have their own alternatives, there isn't one that's so comprehensive that touches the health insurance reform and address people and how you're able to get almost or near universal coverage. because they don't have that and all the rhetoric is focused on what they're against. >> mark murray in washington, thanks so much joompt thanks, mara. stocks opened up with the dough at 200 points. take a loose at them right now. weaker sales from two major companies and a jump in long-term interest rates.

he's president of river twice research. thank you so much for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> how do you think the unrest will play into the markets? >> egypt is a big deal for the middle east, certainly is a testing case for islamism. >> the suez canal is important for the shipping transport. as an economic factor, it's much less touchy. if you had a breakdown of civil war in egypt, it would have more unsettling consequence than probably what's going going on in syria for the past few years. people have been able to deal with syria without pushing the panic button. today's situation is due to high

interest rates. today's bad news results in the markets. i mean, there's a certain amount of consumer sentiment talking about growth. walmart and cisco. that's a lower end mastery. the biggest store in the world. biggest store in the united states. it's sort of the low end. you have things like amazon doing incredibly well which suggests that not that people are on the aggregate spending less, they're spending differently. markets are going down because rates are going up. rates are going up because the economy is doing better. why does good news lead to bad news? to some degree, that's how markets work. >> yes, all very complex. thank you for your time. >> thank you. ready or not, dramatic of the lobby of a florida video.

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frightening new details of what happened to hannah anderson's mother and brother inside james dimaggio's home tops our look around the "news nation" today. according to an arrest warrant unsealed yesterday, authorities say dimaggio tortured christina anderson and her 8-year-old son ethan before kidnapping hannah. a crowbar was found near christina's body and authorities say ethan's body was badly burned. a dramatic birth caught on

tame at a miami hospital. surveillance video show the moment the woman made it to the hospital and got to the front desk realized she wasn't going to make it to a room. she delivered right there in the lobby. >> it wasn't that hard walking to the hospital, but when i just opened the door, i felt like, she's already out. >> baby's ready, it's ready. take a look at this. scientists have confirmed a new species. cute little guy. this is described as a cross between a house cat and a teddy bear. it was unveiled at the smithsonian. they first spotted it in ecuador in 2006. everyone knows someone who's trying to lose weight. they're an estimated 108 million dieters in the country. while some go it alone, others try a program that are endorsed by celebrities. now some people are wondering whether star spokespeople are effective or if they're dead

weight. we asked regular dieters and experts and the answer may just suffer price you. >> we've all seen them. >> i'm jessica simpson and, yes, i'm doing weight watchers. >> they're everywhere. >> i lost 40 pounds over a year and a half ago on jenny craig. >> eat your favorite foods and still lose weight. >> reporter: over the past few years several big names have hit the air waves to taut their weight loss and collect big checks in the process, but does an endorsement from a hollywood star really make a difference to consumers trying to figure out which program to choose? >> i like something regardless of who has an endorsement in it, i'm going to buy it. >> now jenny craig is rolling out new animated adds based on food and regular dieters versus celebrities. >> experts who study advertising effectiveness say celebrity pitches are not the best approach for weight loss. >> we see in our data that on

average ads with celebrities in them do less well than an adebayor with a celebrity. >> if i like it, i like it. >> reporter: sometimes which celebrity that's making the pitch can be a turn on or a turnoff. >> they don't appeal to everyone. you think about finding a celebrity is really difficult. it's really difficult to find one that everybody likes. >> i was fat, now i'm thin. jenny craig says it doesn't plan to get rid of its famous endorsers completely. its new adebayor strategy is about delicious food, personal consultants and flexible options. maybe a star or two gimme when it comes to celebrity endorsements. the weight loss industry is a $60 billion business. a hefty incentive for diet companies to get their sales pitch just right. still ahead in our gut check, the custody battle for the toddler known as baby veronica. the question, should they be returned to her adoptive

parents. her biological father says no, the supreme court says yes. what does your gut tell you? who's gonna take your wheat thins? i don't know. an intruder, the dog, bigfoot. could you get the light? [ loud crash ] what is going on?! honey, i was close! it's a yeti! [ male announcer ] must! have! wheat thins!

there's a lot going on today. here are some things we thought you should know. the white house is turning a bit greener. the obama administration began installing solar panels on the roof this week, almost three years after the president pledged to do so. president carter first installed solar panels in 1979 but those were removed just a few years later by president reagan. paul sam is taking heat for what some say is a sexist comment about the state school superintendent, june atkinson. the republican leader said that atkinson should, quote, stick to her own knitting rather than give her opinion on standardized test scores in schools. that came on the same day teachers and parents rallied in charlotte against education

budget cuts. the web tv site is out with a new video calling on embattled mayor bob filner to resign. it's a parody of robin vick's summer live. here's a taste. ♪ ♪ ♪ got to love dancing politicians. those are the things we just thought you should know. time now for the "news nation" gut check. new developments in an emotional cross-country custody battle. the adoptive parents of baby veronica are pleading to get their daughter back. the girl's biological father is also fighting for custody in a case that's reached the supreme court. nbc's dave gutierrez is in tulsa, oklahoma, where the adoptive parents are continuing the fight. >> reporter: today baby veronica

remains in limbo. >> it's time for this to be over. >> reporter: her adoptive parents matt and melanie cop poe cap poe beank could he are waiting. >> reporter: it's a bitter custody battle that began in 2009 when veronica's parents split up. the biological mother asked her father, dusten brown for custody. they put the child up for adoption. brown said he never realized that was an option. >> i thought just for her to have full custody. you know, be able to make all the right decisions for my daughter while i was gone. >> reporter: in 2011 a south carolina court decided brown, who was a member of the cherokee nation, should have custody of his daughter under a federal law that aims to keep native

american children with their parents. for the last two years veronica has lived with him and his wife robin in oklahoma, but this summer the supreme court weighed in ruling the federal statute did not apply. the south carolina court ordered brown to return veronica to the cap poe beank could hes, but that hasn't happened. in charleston they asked the judge to reconsider. >> he is a loving father. >> reporter: while back in oklahoma governor mary fallon is saying if brown refuses to cooperate she will speed up his extradition to face a charge of custodial interference, a process brown is also fighting. >> i almost feel like the legal battles are distracting from what we're really supposed to be doing here, which is what is best for veronica. well, what does your gut tell you? should veronica be taken from her biological fare and returned to her adoptive parents? go to facebook.com/"news nation"

to vote. that does it for this edition of "news nation." you can catch "news nation" every weekday at 2:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc. "the cycle" is up next. that's chilly! [ male announcer ] bengay zero degrees. freeze and move on.

the blood flows and so do the dollars. good afternoon, i'm abbey huntsman. the death toll tops 500 on the streets of egypt. are we funding the very people that are killing democracy. >> flash point, yemen. i'm ari. we'll take you to the new ground zero. the hope for al qaeda 2.0. >> what's your plan. i'm krystal ball. another top republican rips their party. a half century of history. i'm jonathan in for therese. what would mlk think. 50 years later it comes full circle and today it comes to

"the cycle." mohammed morsi was elected president in a democratic election. his government was not incompetent inclusive and did not respect the views of all egyptians. the united states strongly condemns the steps that have been taken by egypt's interim government and security forces. we deplore violence. he's canceled a major joint military exercise which, of course, was scheduled for next month. as a result of wednesday's crackdown that killed at least 525 people on both sides, military and pro morsi. that's the official number confirmed but there are hundreds more at mosques around cairo. today hundreds of protesters set fire to government buildings outside o.